The present invention relates to a metal/plastic composite front panel for a motor vehicle.
Such a front panel is a structural element of the vehicle which is capable of incorporating the various items of equipment of the vehicle, such as headlamps, direction indicators, horn, heat exchanger, electric fan unit or entire cooling module, etc.
The front panel, provided in this manner these items of equipment, forms a single-unit assembly prepared and delivered by the equipment supplier, which is ready to be mounted on the vehicle by the manufacturer.
The mounting of this module is performed by connection to lateral structural elements of the vehicle, such as side members, wings or body-frame, then positioning a bumper or front shield mounted on the module.
As a panel structure which is made entirely of plastic material does not enable compliance with the safety requirements of crash tests, for the structure of the front panel it is necessary to combine elements made of plastic material (for lightness and low manufacturing cost) and metal elements (for mechanical strength). The method presently in use consists of deep-drawing a metal sheet and mounting it on a plastic support by screwing or rivetting fixing sleeves.
However, the deep-drawing of a simple sheet does not allow the production of a part having a closed cross-section, which can ensure sufficient mechanical strength. It is therefore necessary to increase the cross-section of the sheet (making deep-drawing difficult) or to add a second sheet to close the first.
Moreover, once the sheet is mounted, it is necessary to join it to the plastic support, which accordingly adversely affects the manufacturing cost of the panel. Moreover, the punctiform connection of the sheet to the plastic support may create zones which are locally more fragile, to the detriment of the service life of the front panel.